How To Calculate Import Duty From China

A $6.40 factory quote from China is not the number that hits margin.

To estimate import duty you need the product's HS or HTS code, country of origin, customs value, and every tariff layer that applies on the entry date.

Then you still have to add the fees that are not duty.

Use this the week before you approve the purchase order: how to gather the facts, how to classify the thing, how to work the math, and how to tell duty from landed cost.

Not a substitute for a licensed broker.

Rates move.

Section 301 lists get rewritten.

Use this as a method.

Confirm the live rate before you file or price a container.

If DDP Is Not The Same As Duty Free

You import finished goods from China for Amazon FBA, Shopify, or both.

The POs repeat.

You already know "the supplier said DDP" is not the same as "duty is free."

If you only need the unit-cost picture after duty is known, use the landed cost calculator.

If you sell the same goods on FBA, duties, taxes, and returns is the channel version.

Stay here when the missing number is the tariff itself.

What You Need Before You Look Up A Rate

A duty estimate is only as good as the shipment record.

"Kitchen accessory" or "plastic part" will not classify.

Collect, on one record:

• Plain-language description and main material
• Unit price and commercial invoice total
• Units, net weight, carton count
• Country of manufacture, not just the port it ships from
• Incoterm (FOB, CIF, DDP, EXW) and the freight method
• Freight and insurance, if they are billed separately
• Parts, accessories, batteries, electronics, or anything that changes use

For FBA, add the SKU and the planned FC.

Shopify and WooCommerce sellers should keep the same facts on the PO.

That is how you compare the estimate to the inventory cost later.

Incoterms change who writes the check.

Under DDP the supplier or forwarder may collect duties before delivery.

That is not free duty.

It is duty baked into the quote, usually with less visibility.

Separate freight from goods value before you model the entry.

The freight cost estimator is enough for a planning split.

Save the invoice, packing list, description, origin, Incoterm, and freight quote on the shipment.

When the broker's entry summary disagrees with the factory's number, you need something to audit.

The HS / HTS Code Is The Whole Game

The HS code is the international heading.

The U.S. HTS code adds digits for classification and duty treatment.

You cannot calculate import duty from China until this code is right.

A wrong one reaches the unit cost; the FBA duties guide is what that looks like after the fact.

Start with function, material, construction, and condition.

A cotton shirt, a toy with a speaker, and a phone case can look simple in a catalog and sit in different chapters.

Work in this order: what it does, what it is mostly made of, whether it is finished or a set, then the section and chapter notes.

Confirm the full U.S. HTS number and its unit of measure.

The HTS search is the official place to read headings and base rates.

Search several terms.

The first matching phrase is not automatically the right code.

Keep a short classification note on the SKU: function, material, why you picked the heading.

That is what you hand a broker, and what you check when the factory changes a spec.

Example: a molded-plastic storage item.

Household article, packing container, or a part for something else?

Use can change the heading even when the resin does not.

Do not copy an HTS code from another seller's listing.

Two products that look alike can differ in material, intended use, or included parts.

If the classification moves real money, ask a licensed broker (or get a formal ruling) before the shipment leaves China.

SupplyAutomate will not classify the product for you.

It will keep the invoice and the packing list on the PO so you are not reconstructing the duty estimate from Downloads.

The Rate Is A Stack, Not One Percentage

Once you have the HTS line, read the base duty and every extra layer tied to the product or its Chinese origin.

A single "6.5%" in a calculator is often only the first layer.

The stack can include:

• The standard MFN / NTR rate on the HTS line
• Section 301 duties on covered Chinese goods
• Section 232 on certain steel, aluminum, and other national-security lines
• Chapter 99 provisions that add or change a tariff
• Temporary measures in force on the entry date, not the sail date
• Antidumping or countervailing duties on specific products

Match the full HTS number, not the first six digits.

Lists change while goods are on the water.

A calculator with last quarter's 301 rate will make a profitable SKU look safe.

GingerControl's tariff calculator and Flexport's tariff simulator are useful for stacking base duty, 301, 232, and Chapter 99 on an estimate.

They do not remove the broker.

They also do not file the entry.

Do not confuse the tariff rate with the import bill.

Merchandise Processing Fee, Harbor Maintenance Fee, brokerage, freight, and taxes sit outside the percentage next to the HTS line.

Work The Customs Value, Then The Duty

Basic ad valorem duty:

Import duty = customs value × duty rate

The hard part is the customs value, and adding each layer in the order the tariff instructions require.

Valuation is not "whatever is on the commercial invoice."

Assists, packing, royalties, commissions, and freight/insurance can change the appraised value depending on the terms.

FOB and CIF are not interchangeable.

Ask the broker how this entry should be valued.

The example below is a planning method, not a ruling.

Duty also comes in more than one shape:

• Ad valorem: a percentage of customs value
• Specific: a fixed amount per unit, kilo, or other measure
• Compound: both

If several percentage tariffs apply, calculate each layer against the required customs value unless the text says otherwise.

Keep the math at SKU level when a container mixes headings.

One blended rate hides the SKU that carries the duty.

$12,800 On The Invoice, $5,093 In Duty And CBP Fees

Same shape as the other importer examples on this site.

2,000 units.

Factory $6.40.

Commercial invoice $12,800 FOB.

Ocean freight $3,050.

Insurance $80.

If this entry is valued on a CIF-style basis, a planning customs value is:

• $12,800 + $3,050 + $80 = $15,930

Say the HTS line is 6.5% MFN and the goods are also under a 25% Section 301 action.

Those rates are an illustration.

Your heading will differ.

Confirm them on the entry date.

MPF and HMF figures follow CBP's published FY2026 user fees (rate 0.3464% with those min/max bounds; HMF 0.125% on ocean cargo).

They adjust.

Check the CBP user fee table before you reuse the bounds.

Without the 301 layer, duty plus those two fees is about $1,111.

The 25% is the whole conversation.

Per unit, before brokerage and trucking, duty and CBP fees are about $2.55 on the 2,000-unit PO.

If 30 units fail inspection, that stack still has to be carried by 1,970 sellable units.

Put the same shipment through the landed cost calculator.

Duty is one line.

Pricing needs the rest.

Duty Is Not Landed Cost

Landed cost is what it takes to get sellable inventory to the FC, the 3PL, or your warehouse.

Build it in layers: commercial invoice, international freight and insurance, base duty, extra China or product tariffs, MPF and HMF, brokerage / port / inspection / trucking, then any destination tax that is a true cost (not recoverable VAT, if that is your situation).

Divide by sellable units.

Damaged stock, samples, and components you cannot sell still have to go somewhere.

Dividing by the PO quantity overstates margin.

Shopify sellers can carry the same stack into how to calculate Shopify landed cost.

Mixed containers need an allocation rule.

Landed cost per unit is the formula.

Keep the rule.

Compare the estimate to the entry summary and the broker invoice.

If the final figure is high, check the HTS code first.

Then customs value, tariff layers, freight, unit count.

That order finds the error faster than changing the retail price and hoping.

SupplyAutomate will not file your 7501.

It will keep the commercial invoice, the packing list, and the duty bill on the same PO so the $5,093 does not live in someone else's inbox.

FAQ

How Do I Calculate Import Duty From China?

Identify the HTS code and Chinese origin.

Read base duty, Section 301 coverage, and any other measure in force on the entry date.

Multiply the customs value by each applicable rate (or apply the specific/compound rule).

Add MPF, HMF if ocean, and brokerage.

That is the duty-and-fee estimate.

Landed cost still needs freight and the rest of the inbound stack.

What Is The HS Code For My Product?

It depends on function, material, construction, and condition.

A product name is not enough.

Search the U.S. HTS, compare nearby headings, read the notes.

If the result moves a container's profit, ask a broker before you use the code to price or file.

Are China Tariffs Added To The Normal Duty Rate?

Often yes, when the product is on a covered action.

Section 301 is the usual extra layer.

Section 232 and Chapter 99 can apply too.

Check the full HTS number and the entry date.

Do not assume a calculator's base rate includes every layer.

Does Import Duty Include Shipping?

Duty is charged on customs value.

Shipping may be inside that value or sitting next to it, depending on the terms and the valuation rules.

Invoice, Incoterm, freight line, required additions: ask the broker.

For pricing, track freight as its own line even when it is part of the landed-cost total.

What Is The Difference Between Import Duty And Landed Cost?

Import duty is the tariff on the goods.

Landed cost is duty plus product, freight, insurance, brokerage, fees, and the other costs of receiving sellable stock.

FBA, Shopify, and WooCommerce sellers should price and reorder on landed cost.

Duty alone leaves out most of the spend.

Duty is a classification and a date, not a round percentage of the factory quote.

Write the description, origin, Incoterm, invoice, and freight quote on one record, then look up the HTS line before you wire the deposit.

The landed cost calculator will stack the rest.

If last shipment's entry summary is already missing, the problem is the record, not the rate.